"Just go for a walk..."

You're right @TorqueWrench . When we push ourselves out of our comfort zones and come out the other side the effect on mood is very beneficial.

No medication worked for me either and I tried everything from SSRIs, SNRIs, beta blockers, mood stabilisers, atypical antipsychotics and sedatives.

I've been medication-free for several years but have seen a counsellor privately (£35 a session) for a few years every few weeks.

Genuinely - working long hours, walking, cleaning and staying busy and distracted has worked best for me.

It was a bit of a laugh or I would have cried moment! I went back to see a different doctor who apologized and gave me the details I wanted.

So much good advice and thinking on here. Thank you 💐

A little bit of advice someone gave to me was to even try to get out for a short 10 minute walk just to be outside as it does lift the mood, the hardest part is just getting yourself to get out and once are outside it feels good. Even for 10 mins and try to do that twice a day or even to get into the garden if you have one and just to feel the air on your face. Some people do not understand what it is like if you feel low and everything is an effort. Is there anyone that you could go out with as that would help you to do it. If I feel low sometimes I do not mind walking in the rain as it can make me feel alive, know that sounds mad. Hope you have someone to help you or support you as understand how you are feeling, sending hugs xx

Well, it works as a clever metaphor but in reality it's the last thing you'll think of in the middle of a brisk uphill walk.

Another analogy could be getting used to conquering pain. Facing a situation you know will be uncomfortable yet walking towards it and coming out victorious.

I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder (supposedly the severest form of depression) at 16yo and haven't taken meds in years as gym helps so much.

Of course, I don't speak for everyone and have always managed my depression better than many - e.g. copious drink and drug abuse in my youth but no self harm etc and was always relatively functional. I found SSRIs to be much less effective as they didn't give me the sense of progress, the discipline, or the confidence of having a good body and getting compliments for it.

That's terrible! Breathtakingly insensitive.

I once went to my GP to ask for the details of a private counsellor (a different doctor at the same practice had given them to my husband before but we'd lost them), and she absolutely refused to give it to me and insisted that I first take this leaflet home and read it and see if that helped me first. It's main suggestion was that I should go for a walk. The reason I was asking for details of the counselor was that I was struggling to come to terms with becoming a wheelchair user.

I thought the same. I would spend hours inside with the curtains closed, dreading having to leave the house to do the school run. Anciety was eating me alive, I was in a constant cloud of blackness for years. Then dh got a dog, and suddenly I HAVE to leave the house, I HAVE to go for walks, for her sake. I still don't like people, but it has genuinely helped lift the cloud a little.

@TorqueWrench Good idea, since some people don't like walking outside. However, 2 problems: some people can't afford gym membership, and gyms can be intimidating as a newbie, and even moreso as a Depressed newbie. I only joined a gym when I broke my leg skiing and was advised by my physiotherapist to use an exercise bike. The first few times I was very hesitant and self conscious because everyone looked fit and knew what they were doing. After a while I started to enjoy it, although I cancelled membership as soon as I was able to get back on a real bike. Joining a gym might be a difficult hurdle for a Depressed person to clear.

Worth pointing out that a lot of people are depressed because they have (multiple) caring responsibilities and can't even get out to take exercise. A housebound cared-for person cannot safely be left. And if there is night-time care required, the carer gets tired more easily, less inclined to be active. It's a vicious circle.

It does actually help though. It’s just a case of getting out of the house and breaking the cycle of sitting around at home driving yourself mental really. The physical exercise is great for your mental health too, releases endorphins.

Speaking as someone who's just got back from a walk in the rain and hates being rained on, this is definitely subjective - I feel better for the walk, but mainly in the sense that I'm so relieved to be back in the dry now! 😄

I don't think anyonestelling you yo "just" go for a walk or that a walk will solve everything, but it is proven to help. Walking in the rain is wonderful therapy IMO.

Not necessarily. Psychomotor retardation comes in all levels of severity, and besides which, the threshold for psychiatric admission is probably a lot higher than you imagine.

And there's a difference between trained staff attempting to implement therapeutic behavioural techniques (or even nice people suggesting it might help, or encouraging a depressed friend to meet for a stroll), and people banging ON about going for walks and the evidence base and so on, occasionally almost to the point of bullying, at people who might well agree, but who are struggling with a symptom of depression that's deeply physical as well as mental. I'm not saying that's what's happening here on this thread, but I've seen dogged insistence about going for walks (or runs!) aimed incessantly at people whose every motion is slowed and who can't experience interest or enjoyment.

People experiencing that level of depression would probably be in hospital, and not too receptive to people talking to them, let alone a friend suggesting they go for a walk.
And even in an inpatient setting, staff would be trying to get them moving anyway.

This is exactly how I see it. I get depressed for months every winter (bipolar II with SAD) and the time passes regardless.

Walking and staying busy makes it easier to cope with.

So many posters seem to be contributing during the night, unless some of you are overseas.

How is that relevant?

And more from that article

"Courage is another side effect of physical activity on the brain. At the very same time that a new exercise habit is enhancing the reward system, it also increases neural connections among areas of the brain that calm anxiety. Regular physical activity can also modify the default state of the nervous system so that it becomes more balanced and less prone to fight, flight, or fright."

@AInightingale the thing is about it is consistency. It's meant to become a habit. Regular exercise changes the dopamine receptors in the brain so it does actually change your brain. You can't expect a one off walk or run to change things but there is plenty of evidence that over longer term it changes the brain. From Berkley.edu website:

"Over time, regular exercise remodels the reward system, leading to higher circulating levels of dopamine and more available dopamine receptors. In this way, exercise can both relieve depression and expand your capacity for joy."

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/five_surprising_ways_exercise_changes_your_brain

I had an unexpected three mile walk yesterday, long story, and ended up practically running the last mile as I needed to get back to my house for kids getting home.

Yes, it was exhilarating I suppose, and I felt better after it - briefly. The problem with positing exercise as a depression treatment is that the mild high it brings is pretty short-lived. All the things that depress and annoy and worry you soon come crowding back into your life again. So it's not like drugs, is it.

Idontpostmuch, I don't necessarily mean using technical terminology 🙄 I'm talking about any kind of acknowledgement of the slowing effects of depression that make every thought or movement more difficult, stiffer, sluggish. I mentioned it, a few pages back (but without the terminology), but it so rarely seems to come up, even though it's a very common symptom that's often considered one of the core features of depression (though obviously not always present — and sometimes you get the opposite instead).

Why is the time of day I posted relevant to this observation?

So many posters seem to be contributing during the night, unless some of you are overseas. OK, both on MN and in the real world, why don't we mention .....? Simple answer. Unless we have medical backgrounds or have done extensive research we're unlikely to use all these technical terms @off. That doesn't mean we're not aware of the huge challenges posed by such a horrible affliction. Yet positive suggestions are all anyone has to give. If a sufferer makes their disability known, then it's human nature to try to help. It's a myth that slow walking is of no value. Any exercise is better than none and just being outside in the light, even on a dull day, is of benefit.

What I want to know is why, when this kind of thing comes up, so few people mention psychomotor retardation, leaden paralysis, depressive stupor, catatonic depression — all those aspects of depression that can make it impossible to move quickly enough to get any physical benefit from it, and too exhausting, gruelling and sometimes painful to really derive much mental benefit. Even if depression didn't frequently make it impossible to take interest or pleasure in any experience or sensation, even if depression didn't sap your ability to decide on a course of action and take it, and regardless of whether you live in a slum or a national park: how are people managing to go for all these walks, when depression so often makes it physically extremely hard or impossible to do so?